Destroyed by fire in separate incidents just five days apart, Fantail Brewing Co. is closed indefinitely after a May 28 blaze, and Welch's Steak and Ribs was expected to be declared a total loss after it went up in flames June 2.

A problem greater than not having enough full-service restaurants in the city, however, centers on the loss of what is estimated to be nearly 100 jobs as a result of the fires.

Sturgis Economic Development Director John Hayes said with few other full-service restaurants in Sturgis, absorbing the wait staff, cooks and busboys who now find themselves looking for work could be a major challenge.

"That's 100 jobs that were just wiped out in five days, and as so many people know, this misfortune comes at a time when it's difficult enough to find work," Hayes said.

The ripple effect, of course, impacts companies that supplied the restaurants their food and product, the distributors of their beer and liquor, and contractors who mowed the lawns and cleared snow, for example. Plus, workers out of a job may have to turn to Elkhart, Ind., Three Rivers or Coldwater for employment, taking with them dollars that might otherwise have been spent in Sturgis -- at its gas stations after work, as another example.

Hayes said there's no way to accurately pinpoint a dollar amount Sturgis will lose directly and indirectly as a result of the fires.

Regardless, he predicted the impact will be felt.

"This really hurts," Hayes said. "It hurts the owners of the restaurants, it hurts the employees ... it hurts the city."

Hayes said Fantail's loss is especially difficult because its downtown presence -- located in a restored building that previously served as the local Elks lodge -- kept alive an area of Sturgis that is still recovering after it took a hit in the 1990s when Wal-Mart opened along South Centerville Road.

He said Fantail's owner, Stan Longstreet, gave the downtown area a full-service, destination restaurant where the city had long needed a business of that nature. At the same time, Fantail's refurbishing of the former Elk's lodge helped take a majestic, once-vacant building off the city's "blight list," Hayes said.

Welch's owners Bob and Laurie Rastovski were its latest owners. Laurie Rastovski is the sister of John Welch, who opened the restaurant in 1992.

Though Welch's technically is in Fawn River Township and not in Sturgis city limits, Hayes said its presence the past 17 years has benefited the city.

"I haven't talked to Bob about what he and Laurie plan to do; I just wonder if the incentive is still there for them to rebuild and jump right back into the restaurant business," Hayes said. "Despite Savary Restaurant, Applebee's and fast-food competition up the road from them, they have proven there is room in Sturgis for a full-service, order-a-beer kind of place like Welch's."

Sturgis Mayor John Carmichael agreed. He said both restaurants filled a niche in the city, and Sturgis has demonstrated it would support at least two full-service restaurants such as Fantail and Welch's.

"Whether that market will be filled by rebuilding what the community has lost ... or by (the development of) something new, I'm confident the support will be there," Carmichael said.

Hayes, meanwhile, said DaVinci's Italian Restaurant on the east side of town and a Mexican restaurant on South Centerville Road remain viable options for diners seeking full service and an alcoholic beverage to enjoy before, during or after their meal. Still, he said it will take a lot of people some time to get used to the idea that Fantail and Welch's are no longer open.

Welch's was burglarized in early May, and Rastovski said the community showed its affection for Welch's in a surprising yet touching manner. He said sports jerseys and other items of sports-related memorabilia were stolen during the incident, and private collectors and Sturgis High School donated from their own collections a number of replacement sports items to display temporarily.

Those pieces were lost in the blaze.

Rastovski said it's too early to indicate whether he would rebuild Welch's.

"It's sad to see, but what makes me really want to cry is the fact that in less than a week Sturgis has lost about 100 jobs, between us and Fantail," Rastovski said. He noted that Welch's had between 40 and 45 people on its payroll after he took on some workers from Fantail who were left jobless following its blaze.